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Snow Day

So, we had ourselves another snow day today. If memory serves (which, at this point in the game, is a bit shaky) this is our third in the last two weeks of school. Let’s see… we had three days of school, a snow/ice day, a day off due to parent/teacher conferences, then a weekend, then another snow day, two days of school and today — another snow day. So, yes. Three snow days in the past two weeks. This does not do much for one’s sanity. It is, however, pretty to look at, yes?

And fun for the kids, of course. Especially if you’re 15, bored and desperate to snowboard.

This would be Charlie. With a skateboard strapped to his shoes. De-wheeled, of course, because voila! Snowboard! Funny thing about de-wheeled skateboards with shoes tied to them… they don’t really function like a REAL snowboard. This makes for a lot of hopping around.

But you can pretty much get anywhere you want. Provided you want to hop that far. I love that Sam and Bobby are just staring at him like, “Dude… what are you even doing?”

I’m not sure if Sam’s assistance was requested or on a volunteer basis. Regardless, it didn’t really help much, and soon after I snapped this shot, Charlie came hop-hop-hopping back up to the house.

I’m finding that situations such as this — an unexpected day of working at home with the kids off school — force me to remember to live in the moment. Last year, before Jack and Charlie began 9th grade, I realized that we are in the “home stretch” with them. Three years from today, they may be enjoying one of their last snow days as high school students. Three years, people. Gah. That can’t be. Sadly, it’s true. Even last night, as I was saying goodnight to Bobby, I head them in their room playing a video game. It struck me that the voices I heard were practically MEN’S voices — young men’s voices with enough adolescent wavering and cracking to remind me that they aren’t full-grown men just yet. And Sam turns into an “official” teenager next Wednesday. He’s hoping this will put an end to Jack and Charlie constantly referring to him not by his given name, but as “Tween.” I want to warn him that they’ll probably just find some other way to torment and bother him, but I’ll let him savor this hopeful thought for the next six days. Two weeks after we gain another teenager, Bobby will turn 6. Where did my baby go?! And a couple weeks after that, Kate turns 21. Twenty-one. I cannot wrap my mind around this just yet, just like I can’t fathom Tyler being 23.

All this to say, that I fully realize time isn’t just marching by, it’s sprinting. But there’s something about a snow day that makes time slow up a tiny bit. For at least one day, I’m not only knee-deep in snowdrifts, but in the craziness and mayhem generated by these four boys. There will be a day in the future, I’m sure, when a storm will bring enough snow to keep Jeff and I housebound for a day or two. It’ll be quiet. I’ll write, knit or stare out the window, feeling like something’s missing. I’ll realize it’s the buzz of activity that’s currently happening in this house — video games, laughter, periodic pops from the Nerf dart guns. And I’ll for sure miss having one of the boys wander into the kitchen as I’m working and join me at the table with his bowl of Ramen noodles.